Halo 4: Imprint
by Girl On Craic
Summary: Within the many Fireteams on Reqiuem, comes Fireteam Zealot; 4 Misfit Spartan IV's battling the Covenant and Reqiuem's inhabitant's. Rated M for strong language.
1. Chapter 1: Feet First Into Hell

**Introduction**

The military docking bay was abuzz with the noise of the incoming Pelican Drop ships, the new `Recruits` were on their way aboard UNSC Infinity. Among those newbies was Private Eva Amare, a specifically trained Air Assault Spartan IV looking to put her skills to the test against the rivals of Requiem.

Her eyes scanned the massive, basically-classed planet cracker, as the other Spartan's were shown the way to the armory by the ship's A.I., Roland. Eva on the other hand didn't go, she wasn't there to be flocked like the rest, she was there for recruitment of Fireteam Zealot. You see, her skills were noticed when she single handedly took out the opposing team of a War Games simulation based on Earth, an extermination of sorts, though nobody was killed. She was a natural born, born to be a Spartan, born to be in the Air. And that's how she won that simulation, her tricks with a jet pack were uncanny and should have been impossible to pull off, but Eva liked a challenge. And when she was to arrive on Requiem she was to find the hardest challenges she was to ever meet.

**Feet First Into Hell**

David Militus just stared at the female gawking the Infinity's docking bay, he laughed as he walked up to her:

"You do know, there is more to this beauty than just her backside?" He said as she turned on heels with a hand to her temple.

"Sir, Eva Amare reporting for..."

"Chill, girl, I believe in the motto, actions speak louder than words, and words aint worth nothin' to me or my Spartans'." He said stopping her mid-sentence.

He motioned for her to follow him and began his tour of the Infinity, starting with his assembly point for his team.

"Each day we meet here, debrief, gear up and head out." He said walking her around the football field sized 'room' where armour assemblies lay on each side.

"Sir, permission to speak?" Eva asked.

"Sure." He rolled his eyes, though Eva didn't see.

"What about a battle plan, do you just act on impulse on the battlefield?" She said.

He turned and faced her, eyes locked with a stern gaze that was almost piercing her soul.

"Did you _plan_ when you took out those noobs on Earth? Did you _plan_ when you fought for your life in those first few days of enrollment to the Spartan project? Did you _plan_ to be recruited onto _my _team and risk your life travelling to Requiem? Plans change, girl, and I_ like _change."

Thankfully the situation changed, and the tour cut short, when the alarm was raised for slipspace. Eva prepped her way into a suit assembly point, her skin coloured armour was bolted to her at each point major in battle; shoulders, legs, chest, forearms and head. Her shoulders were standard E.V.A based gear, the same with her twin-plated forearms and over-locking legs. And her chest was of the aviator variant, topping it all off with a Prime themed Recruits helmet with orange visor. In her armour she felt safe, but in the Air, she felt alive.

"I can see myself in your visor, pretty." David chuffed as he walked toward her in his own armour, very military she thought, very manly. She smiled to herself and followed his lead to the docking bay again.

"Prepare to drop, girl, we're going in head first!" He told as they ran to the Pelican codenamed Babydoll by him and their pilot, Dolly Babette. It exited the mid-section of Infinity and began its descent into Requiem.

"Where's the rest of Zealot?" Eva yelled as the Pelican rolled and dove in the dog-fight like battle of the area surrounding Requiem's entrance.

"They hit ground 24 hours before you arrived, Christian holds down a fort with Castle Team, while Leo keeps a sharp eye on Crimson Team." He replied.

"`K Dave, Imma drop you two love birds in Valley, there's some Split-lipped bastards attacking a research team and some grubs that need Spartan help." The pilot announced through their comms.

Eva thought this would be a good chance to show her skills of aviation and popped her comms on to Dolly.

"Pilot could you back around toward the enemy, I'd like to take a different approach to this, if I may, Sir?" She said turning to her commanding officer. He nodded and told Dolly to pull Babydoll around toward the buggers.

"Good luck, girl." Militus said as she stood to depart.

Her visor lit up, comms flashed up ON, Radar lit up like a Christmas tree, ON, status for her jet pack, FULL. The back of the metallic bird flew open and she faced away from the enemy as she prepared to jump. `Don't screw this up Eva` She thought.


	2. Chapter 2: So, who are you, exactly?

**So, who are you, exactly?**

She jumped from the pelican and dropped toward the Covie freaks, landing right on top of an 8 foot tall alien, jet pack flaming as she landed, its flames lapping at the other aliens behind her, she drove her knife into its neck and pulled it toward herself, snapping its neck and causing it to plop to the ground. Eva turned and quickly pulled up the alien weapon she was all too aware of and familiar with, the Covie Carbine. Before a half-jawed freak could impale her with its glowie sword, she flew skyward and popped its head with a point blank shot of green energy. She maintained a good flight, getting one freak after another as she finally was forced to land with her fuel gauge reading EMPTY.

Throwing the pack to one side she took the small metal boomerang from her left thigh gauntlet and latched it to her back, picking up a glowie sword she was unfamiliar with, Eva swung toward the closest alien, which was a strange dinosaur looking thing with a shield raised, the sword pierced through its shield and itself splattering purple blood onto Eva's visor, which was now reading a large red circle on its rim, approaching from behind her.

'I know this vehicle...' She thought looking around to see the slow moving purple-glazed tank closing in on her.

"So, girl, can your jet pack battle a Wraith?" Militus asked through comms, his position unknown to her. It fired a pink/blue blast toward her, dodging it only thanks to her newly latched-on thruster pack.

"A little help, uh, Sir!" She said gasping waiting until her thrusters' cooled down for another dodge she'll need. Her eyes widened when the tank fired.

"DUCK!" A voice yelled, when suddenly a blue shield popped out in front of her, hopefully to block the incoming blast.

The blast hit the shield and as it cleared, a metallic monster was seen crushing the Wraith as another dinosaur-like thing was hanging from the top of this thing, clawing at the machine with no avail. Eva was still crouched over as she watched the dino-thingy fall to the ground as if pushed and witnessed an invisible sword go through its abdomen.

"Umbra, go help the newbie, I'll clear shit up." Militus was heard through speakers on the mechanical beast. And it walked off firing toward far-off aliens.

Eva stood up and looked around for this 'Umbra' but couldn't see him. Her visor showed a moving ally close to her but she still couldn't see it.

"Convincing aint it?" The voice said.

"Yes, very, um...who are you, exactly?" Eva said.

"I'm the teams' ninja...Leo Umbra. And you are...?" He asked.

"Private Eva Amare. AA Unit Spartan IV" She said as if rehearsed, which it was.

She heard a laugh and right before her eyes a black figure appeared wielding the shiny glowie sword.

"I'm a Spartan myself." He puffed out, retracting the sword into itself and placing it on his right thigh gauntlet. Eva stared at it, still wondering what it was.

"I know the Covie Carbine, Pistol and Storm Rifle, but that sword...What is it?" She asked still staring at it as if it were still active and glowing.

"It's called an Energy Sword, used by the Spec Ops Elite squads of the Covies. Hey if I weren't a Spec Ops Spartan, I'd be a Spec Ops Elite." He said, finally walking past her and toward the recently assaulted Science base. As they walked past the large metal doors to the open topped base, Eva took time to look at Umbra's armour:

First of all, it was black, shadow black with a tint of blue (which she also noticed on Militus' armour too, the blue streak) he had both shifting armlets as well as bulked leg plating, which she had seen on many other higher up male Spartans. His shoulders were of a more stealthy variety; Scout and his chest plate was the Enforcer type, figures. As for his helmet, she didn't know, she just guessed by the 'Rogue' braille on the back of it. Rogue. Black Armour. Active Camo. He _is_ a ninja.

They walked past many normal marines, which to Spartans are called grubs, who seemed to have taken a beating and were been seen to by the medics stationed there.

"My first off-Earth base...Valley Base, right?" Eva turned to Umbra.

"Yeah, simple enough name..." He said looking around for something.

He walked away toward an officer that seemed higher than her, well in terms of rank anyway. She took the time to relax and took her helmet off, letting her short auburn hair fall over her face a little. She looked toward the sky, noticed clouds moving quickly and the occasional Pelican many feet in the air passing by. War. It never changes. She thinks to herself, Plans change and change is good. Her superiors may seem strange, but damn she had to give to Militus, he is right about change!

She smiled to herself as an alarm was raised; she snapped into action and shoved her helmet on again. Visor quickly activating. She felt a presence beside her and already knew it was Umbra. At least he's attentive, Eva thought, but what was he looking for, and did he find it?

The huge metal doors slowly peeled open to reveal the mechanical beast that had destroyed the Wraith and saved her life. It slowly walked in and collapsed in a heap on the hard, dusty ground. And out came Militus, dusting off his own armour and removing his helmet to reveal his flushed cheeks, short black hair and slightly marred face.

Umbra popped out of camo, nodded toward the boss and walked off again back to the nearby tent he was in.

"Your hair is showing." Militus laughed as he brushed a piece of Eva's hair barely in front of her visor.

"Thank you for saving me out there...I might as well ask as I did with Umbra, what is _that _thing?" Pointing toward the two-legged boxy robot.

He wiped a hand across his forehead and sighed before answering:

"'Tis called a Mantis, girly; a mech. Thought you would have used one of those in your simulations!"

She shook her head while her auburn hair swayed a little as her head went back and forth. She decided to fix her hair and took her helmet off, still talking, she says:

"I've heard of them, but never really seen one and most definitely never used one. I'm not much of a vehicle person anyway." Finally fixing her hair into her helmet, while Umbra could be seen approaching the two. Militus presses his own helmet back on and a faint click is heard, he then turns to face Umbra who is slowly activating his camo.

"Leaving so soon? Thought we'd be havin' a beer Leo." Militus says to the barely visible Spartan.

"I got what I came for, I'll report to Infinity at twenty-two hundred. That beer can wait." Umbra states as he walks past and jumps over the Bases walls. Out of View, Out of Mind.

Eva turns to face the tent he was in, but is interrupted by her team leader, who has told her that the two were moving out toward another base that was prepping for battle. Babydoll lands with a thump, Eva and Militus hop in, the Mantis is loaded under the metallic bird and away they head for Galileo Base.


	3. Chapter 3: Contrast Much?

**Contrast much?**

Eva stares at the blue streak on her leader's armour, it was on Umbra as well. So what does it mean?

"It's so people know what team we are; no other Spartan team uses two colours on their armour. Lux being the most notable, then you, myself and finally Umbra." Militus shouts out.

"Me? And who's Lux?" She says with a puzzling tone.

"Considering you are now a part of my team, you know that Pelican drop _was_ impressive, the blue will be put on your armour when we get back top-side. And Lux, Christian Lux, the last doo-hickey of our team, our marksman. Oh and from now on, we'll be referring to you as Amare, we don't do first names." The military green officer says with a bit of an authoritive nod.

"Next stop; Galileo Base, the UNSC's Central Base for all things nerdy." Dolly calls out through her comms.

The Pelican lands with a thump, Dolly forgetting about the robot attached underneath;

"Sorry for the hard landin', forget about your toy Dave." She says in her jolly upbeat tone of voice.

"It's fine Dolly, we can make the jump." Militus says as he starts to rise and walk toward the rear opening of the Pelican. He drops to the ground with a thud as Eva drops a little more gracefully with the use of her newly filled jet pack. The Pelican rises, still holding onto Militus' toy;

"I'll mind this 'til you need it Hun." The pilot says, before she and the bird go out of view.

Militus signals for Eva to take the higher platforms, get a good view of the place, while he took the lower, darker parts of Galileo Base. They meet up at the far end of the complex where a sort of Y-shaped room is. For a base that was prepping for attack, it seemed more like abandoning it than fortifying. Eva enters the room and sees a white armoured Spartan standing at a console, not moving or doing anything at all for that matter.

"Sir, we have someone here." She whispers through comms. Militus appears behind her and places his hand on her shoulder, signifying for her to lower the Assault Rifle she now has raised. Eva glances and sees Militus give the nod to lower it, she does and watches her leader approach the statue-like superhuman.

"Lux, its Militus, what happened here, where is everyone?" He asks, about to place his hand once more on the shoulder of Lux. His hand goes through him.

Eva gasps and Militus turns to see Lux holding a knife to her neck and a pistol to her jet pack.

"Who's the girl, Sir?" Lux asks while staring at the side of Eva's helmet, as if to be looking into her eyes.

"How'd you know they're a girl?" The green soldier asks with a sly smirk and arms crossed, clearly not bothered by the threat of death to his new follower.

Lux laughs and points toward Eva's nether regions.

"No man has assets like _that_!"

He hits a nerve with that one and Eva boosts her jet pack to full power, burning Lux away from her.

"I'm going to kill you, you arrogant son of a..."

"Wow, Amare, stand down...THAT'S AN ORDER!" Militus barks, standing between her and Lux. She pauses and walks away, out of the Y-shaped science area.

"Asshole"

After looking over the place to see that it was secure and truly empty, Eva sits on the highest part of Galileo Base, looking at the high sun in the sky. She has calmed down since the Lux incident, who she now hears behind her. A sigh fills her helmet and slightly fogs her visor. Lux sits next to her and stares up at the sun, mimicking her pose.

"So, are you some sort of mime, huh?" She asks, looking at him and at the over-sized visor of his E.V.A helmet. He turns his head and takes the fish-bowl looking hat off.

Now Lux is what you'd call, attractive; unlike her leading officer, who looks as he should. Lux has short slightly spiked blonde-ish hair, spiked due to his helmet of course. His eyes an unusual striking hazel that distract you from his button nose and partly smiling slender mouth, that is now readying to speak;

"No, I'm a marksman, I do long range. The only reason I `mimic` _you_ is because I'm fucking with _you_." He says with a cheeky smile, but still continues;

"I'm kidding; that thing earlier, the thing the boss was touching and what you saw, was a hologram, what I use for CQC encounters, tricks the opponent so they follow and shoot at it, while I hit 'em from far off. Works a charm...sometimes." His voice. and head, lowering as if he hit one of his own nerves. Eva looks toward his Enforcer-graded torso and sees a lightly etched scratch, which she easily over-looked before. She knows he has hit a personal nerve in himself. They both sit in silence for a moment, letting the birds sing and the sun slowly move in the sky.

"Hey, love Spartan's, think you can help your boss figure out what the fuck seems to be wrong with the comms in this area?" Militus bellows up to them, snapping them back to reality. The leader watching them shake hands and make up, and finally walking away from one another. Lux takes a walkway toward the main control room of the complex, which joins the whole upper area together, while Eva informs Militus that she would go check the satellites at the top of the building to inspect them for damage. While el Capitan tries to reach Dolly on his comms, which should work!

Eva reaches the top and sees no damage to the satellites, she pops her own comms on and overhears Militus calling in a stress beacon, she doesn't back an eyelash as she changes her channel to Lux, who has told her that there was no damage or circuitry problem with the network or its wiring. She props herself onto her knees and stares off into space overlooking Galileo Base, only snapping back to reality when she sees something moving quickly in the corner of the base, heading toward Lux. She warns him quickly and descends the complex, only to then see 4 more quickly moving bodies spreading out over the base, as if scanning it.

"Lux, are you there, do you have a visual on the enemy?" Comms gone blank, she jumps down and lands with a hard thump, only noticing now that her jet pack had been leaking fuel. She looks up and sees the enemy in front of her.

"Amare...I...have...visual...not...Covie."


	4. Chapter 4: Ying And Yang

**Ying And Yang**

Eva's eyes were wide but out of view for this thing to see; she's in shock as the enemy moves toward her with a sluggish yet predatory walk. This enemy was neither human or Covenant, this was something else, yet something familiar. First thing, it had no eyes; its face was like some sort of monster from a horror film, it had sharp teeth and its whole being emitted green vapor that may or may not have been poisonous. This vapor wasn't thick but clearly something with a strong stench because the thing before Eva could be loudly heard with some respiratory problems, or it could have been growling. She didn't know.

"Amare, move, get out of there!" A familiar yet cold voice was heard on comms.

She did as she was told and jumped backwards, propelling herself with what was left in her jet pack, she managed to get to a ledge above her that was close to Lux's position. She saw the zombie looking creature lurch forward as if to get her but was just a bit too slow. Another one had jumped as well, following her; its jump was like that of hers but with no jet pack. She gasped and ran into the door way:

"Lux, I'm in the control room, inform me of your position." She whispered as she crouched behind a pillar at the top of a large slope that lead to the open back of Galileo Base. She heard static on her ear piece. Eva looked around at the computer screens, all lit up showing the status of the base; but on one screen she seen a message:

_Amare, they don't go down easily._

_I reached Militus, get back to where we first met._

_; )_

It was Lux. He was ok. Great.

Eva propped herself up on her knees once more and crouched slowly toward the doorway she had just entered moments ago. She heard nothing; across from her was another doorway she knew lead to the Y-shaped room she was in before. She ran for it, a zombie creature had just turned the corner behind her, it ran after her. She was briefly out in the open again when another thing appeared before her, its deformed arm was raised, pointing at her as if to say; _You're next!_

It darted toward her, she couldn't move, she saw her life flash before her eyes as another figure jumped from above the creature and impaled it to the ground, the entity cut the beast's mid-section completely off and it dropped to the ground below the tiny bridge Eva was standing on. The thing was materializing before her terrorized eyes.

It was Umbra.

She gave him an honorable nod and followed him to the room she was instructed to go to. Fortunately the monster that was behind her was distracted by its fallen comrade's remains.

Both Lux and Militus were in the science room, the doorways barricaded with large heavy crates that took the two to move into position. The team was now complete and Lux was now greeting Umbra with what seemed like a brotherly gesture. The two Spartans contrast each other; Lux in white armour, Umbra in black. Ying and Yang.

"What. The. Fuck!" Eva belted out with more fear than anger. Militus looked at her and Umbra approached her:

"Do you remember a little over 4 years ago, the incident that resulted in half of Earth's South Africa being 'glassed' by the Covenant?" He said whispering, showing signs of concern which was unusual for Umbra. Eva did indeed remember, she knew it wasn't an unnecessary 'glassing', she knew it was because of an other worldly parasite, she knew because her brother had died in South Africa as a marine for the UNSC.

"That's not what I saw out there, I knew the thing that attacked Earth, I've _seen _the thing that attacked Earth and that wasn't it!" She said in a low, anger filled whisper.

"Yes, it is. They look different because they're not normal humans being taken over." Umbra said slowly turning toward Lux. Lux then advanced toward the two and began to speak:

"Militus told you that I was overseeing Castle Team at a base close to Valley Base..." Eva nodded in response, Lux continued:

"Well I was watching from afar, as I've told you I do. The base was calm, and as Castle Team was about to fly from that base their Pelican was hit...I witnessed Spartans killed by the aliens we were supposedly friends with!" Lux's fists clenched but he continued:

"Well shortly after that there was panic, with my finger on the trigger of my Sniper Rifle I repressed my anger and watched as Elites were assaulted by an unknown force and transformed into, uglier freaks...and the same happened to Castle Team, they rose from the dirt and attacked the remaining Covies with the other deformed beings. That's what you saw out there: Us."

Lux had finished and walked toward a crate, which he proceeded to give the ol' one two. The four Spartans knew this enemy all too well, apparently, but could they defeat the ones outside, the ones that used to be their friends. Militus was on his comms, only catching pieces of what Dolly was saying. She was to arrive in 10 minutes.

Militus nodded and was about to speak to the rest, but as they all turned to listen the large metallic crates at the main doorway began to move ever so slightly with growls and snarls from behind it. Those things wanted in and they were getting there!


	5. Chapter 5: Hell Hath No Fury

**Hell Hath No Fury...**

Fireteam Zealot watches as the crates begin to move ever so slightly, shadows being seen within the cracks. They need to act fast or else!

"Okay Zealot here's the plan; Umbra you're going to help those freaks in here, while Lux does what he does best..." Militus throws his DMR to Lux, the white knight nods with approval:

"There was a ledge to the corner of this base that I want you to camp at, kill what things you can when we get out of here." He stops and looks at Eva, thinking about what he wants her to do. He looks her up and down and notices she has her thruster latched to her left thigh guard, he's got it. Umbra pulls his Energy Sword from his own thigh guard and proceeds to activate it, its blue glow illuminating the darkened room. As the infected nudge ever closer to them, Umbra and Lux move a smaller crate that was blocking a doorway to the back, Lux slips out and manages to sneak past the enemy, informing Militus that he has made it to the ledge and is awaiting their exit. Umbra picks his weapon back up and looks toward Eva.

"Scared?" He asks walking toward her as Militus loads up Eva's Assault Rifle and a pistol he was carrying.

"A little, I'm kinda being bait here, but they're not that fast so I guess...I'm more excited than anything." She answers in a slight peppy tone. Umbra nods and places his enclosed fist to his chest, as if wishing her luck. He turns and his leader begins to speak for the last time:

"Okay people, Umbra when I give you the signal you cut those crates in half and kill anything that tries to get you, then follow me to the LZ, Amare you're gunna turn right when we get out, there's a ramp made of pipes leading up to where you and Lux sat earlier, get there and attract as many as you can...Lux you pop the bastards if they try to get Amare." Militus says into his comms. He places Eva ahead of himself before the little gap in the small crate at the back of the Y-shaped room. Umbra stands at the crates wielding his sword readying himself for the oncoming assault. He's more than ready.

"Now."

Umbra slashes at the crates, and immediately a creature reaches for him, he dodges it and slices its arm off, it reels backward which allows another thing to get at him, he rams his sword through its head, and it jerks as it dies, falls to the ground and creates a miniature blockade. He hears Eva shouting and yelling at the things, they ignore Umbra and begin to follow the peach coloured female, unknowingly to their death! Umbra slips out the back and sees his leader running up a hill straight ahead of himself and he immediately follows.

Meanwhile Eva has gotten onto the walkway below her destination, she jumps onto a smaller ramp and is stopped by a skin-ravaged beast before her, she gasps and it instantly falls to the ground, Lux is in her line of sight. She gets up the ramp, goes to the ledge of the roof, the roof that was so peaceful earlier, the roof that is now being ascended by undead, brainless parasites. Eva waits for a moment, waits as the things crowd the roof, and waits as she is surrounded. Her breathing has become heavy but inaudible due to the growling and snarling around her. She whispers ever so slightly into her comms:

"Lux..."

A bullet whizz's past her helmet, hitting the closest thing to her, the creatures screech at the sight of their murdered follower, Eva thrusts backward, off the roof and onto the hard ground below her. She looks up and sees more bodies fall, more than Lux should be able to shoot. She turns and sees the big boxy robot once more, with Militus now inside it, crouched beside the ledge that Lux is perched on, concentrating fire on the infected things. Eva feels a presence behind her and raises her Assault Rifle in its direction; an invisible force stops the gun before its raised upright. Umbra appears and puts a finger to his helmet as if to silence her. He then points behind himself to show her that the things have multiplied, and are getting through the fence at the farthest end of the complex. He pushes her forward toward Babydoll, which is much closer to them than the mass of infected beings. Lux jumps from his perch and runs toward them as well, the Mantis rises and begins to strafe, still shooting at the massively growing flood of infected. Lux, Umbra and Eva jump into the Pelican and it slowly rises upward until the Mantis can fit beneath it. Large clasps lower themselves to the `shoulders` of the Mantis as it still shoots. The robot is then lifted off the ground, where it ceases to fire and begins to cool down. A loud and long screech is heard from below Babydoll and the Spartan's onboard realise it's their captain yelling with delight. Eva laughs so loud she grabs at her own steel torso as if in pain. Lux removes his helmet and watches her almost keel over in laughter. And Umbra joins Lux in removing his own helmet but Eva is too preoccupied in her fit of laughter that is mixed with her leader's celebratory roars.

"Whoa! Dolly you are some life saver, you know that? We need to inform Commander Palmer, so if you please, take us top-side, I also got something to clear up with Ms. Amare too." Militus finally manages to say through comms, gasping with relief.

"Copy that, Hun. ETA 25 minutes." Dolly says for all onboard and under board to hear.

Eva finally catches her breath and slows her breathing long enough to see Umbra put his helmet back on, she looks toward Lux and he rolls his eyes:

"He's shy." Looking toward Umbra who immediately looks away. The Pelican begins it ascension to Infinity. All was finally quiet as Babydoll placed the Mantis on the landing deck of UNSC Infinity, then finally landing itself. The four Spartan's made their way to the re-group area. Eva steps into an armour assembly point and closes her eyes as the machine removes her armour. Mid-removal she sees Umbra looking at her with his arms crossed. She puts her head back and says:

"You checking me out Leo?" She giggles and goes to look at him again but he is nowhere to be seen.


	6. Chapter 6: Like A Spartan Scorned

**...Like A Spartan Scorned**

After having her armour removed, Eva walks to the main deck of the ship and sees Roland with Captain Lasky, their eyes meet for a moment but Lasky turns back to his work. Lux walks in quickly, in full armour that seemed like it was cleaned, he nods to his Captain and approaches Eva:

"Amare, Militus needs you to armour up ASAP, he's gotten word that Crimson Team have gone missing and we're being sent to Covenant controlled sectors in search of them." His voice was sterner, more serious. She does as she's told and runs to get her armour on again.

She notices the blue streak on it and smiles to herself. She sees Lux standing at attention at the doorway with Umbra beside him; she joins the two and waits until her leader enters.

Militus walks in and stands before his team and begins to speak:

"Team, it seems as if Crimson has gone and gotten themselves lost and it's up to us to find them." He says as a camera pops up on each of the Spartan's visors, it's the video of what Crimson Team last witnessed; it looked like a whole Covenant army was sent to get them. And it was up to Zealot to find them. Militus continues:

"They were last deployed in the Quarry looking for another lost Spartan, Spartan Thorne of Majestic Team. So Spartan's I have this to say..."

"Words Aint Worth Nothin'." The Three Spartans yell in unison.

Militus smiles to himself and orders his team to prep for battle.

Umbra checks that his camo and sword are operational, Lux loads up a Sniper Rifle with armour piercing rounds and Eva refuels a new jet pack and places a thruster on her left thigh of her armour. The team once more boards Babydoll and descends to Requiem.

They arrive in the quarry and immediately face resistance, Militus wastes no time and proceeds with orders as his Mantis is deployed with him inside. His team is quickly dispatched behind him.

"Umbra, Wraith." Umbra activates his camo and the Wraith is soon seen facing trouble with the black entity, the Wraith goes still, deactivates and rises to action once more, turning toward the oncoming Elites and Grunts. Umbra's job was done.

"Amare, Banshee." Eva jumps to attention and boosts herself skyward toward the incoming air vehicle, she quickly hi-jacks it for personal use and begins to fight the other flying vehicles. Eva's job was done.

"Lux, Phantom." Lux spots the large purple skyward vehicle, takes aim slowly and pulls the trigger, allowing the anti-armour bullet to pierce the pilots cabin windshield, the Phantom instantly drops from the sky, crushing two Wraiths and a number of ground infantry.

Lux's job was far from over if he was to be ridding the skies of Phantom's, as more were incoming, each now equip with a plasma turret on each side. As each of his team members was accomplishing their task with ease, bar Lux, Militus was advancing ever so slightly.

"Dolly, get top-side and inform Fireteam Apex, Talon and Wolf than we are facing heavy Covie assault in the quarry. We need back up!" Militus says as he crushes a speeding Ghost, purple and blue flames spiraling up the leg of the Mantis. His sight on Eva as she rolls and dives from incoming aerial fire, looking as if she is about to crash but recovering herself in the last second, he then looks at the Wraith that Umbra was in and sees it is now a pile of smoke with Umbra nowhere to be seen. Finally his attention switches to Lux who is now in a bit of a trouble with more and more Phantoms making their way into the quarry.

"Umbra, come in, where the hell have you gone boy?" Militus asks, now firing on the increasing number of Phantoms that have entered the quarry. Lux hears his team leader on his comms calling for his brother in arms. With his attention taken from the fight, he is unaware of a Spec Ops Elite climbing up to his perch on the rocks.

With Eva's Banshee taking too much damage she sees this as the final straw for the purple vehicle, and flying toward her boss, she pops her comms onto him:

"Militus, shoot this thing...NOW!" He hears her and shoots two homing rockets toward her; the Banshee goes out with a bang as Eva slowly glides down to the ground with her Assault Rifle in arm. Lux spots her briefly looking toward him, only noticing the small piece of debris hurdling toward him. He dives out of the way, only to see a purple splatter being emitted from his previous position. He turns and sees the Spec Ops Elite, sword in hand, now impaled to the boulder that was behind it.

"Lux, Amare. Regroup. ASAP!" Militus says through static filled comms. Both soldiers hear this and immediately make their way to his position. By this point Militus has made his way down into the quarry to an abandoned UNSC base. Now awaiting evacuation, the three remaining members of Zealot Team are quickly being surrounded by both air and ground troops. Lux takes aim at the closest Phantom ship as Eva has placed herself on her leader's Mantis to board the next incoming Banshee, and Militus has locked onto a new incoming vehicle, approaching the enemies from Covies from behind.

"Hey Boss, you mind pointing that somewhere else."

Militus quickly switches his aim to the farthest Phantom and orders Lux to kill any ground units that attempt to advance into their personal space. Eva stays put and shoots the ground infantry with her Assault Rifle. The incoming unknown purple vehicle has now sped up and making its way to another Phantom hovering closer to its position than that of Zealot.

"Take cover people!" Umbra's voice bellowed through the speakers of Militus' Mantis. The team leader lowered his machine as Lux and Eva crouched behind it. The large ship that Umbra _was _piloting had now gone head first into a Phantom that caused a chain reaction to the other aircraft in the vicinity. The alien aircrafts crashed into one another, as Zealot Team endured the purple, pink and blue explosions. While the ships crashed and burned around them, Lux looked out onto the ground troops fleeing but eventually falling to their inevitable doom. Eva gazed briefly at Lux and then toward the horizon, seeing an incoming Pelican, her comms blinked on to show Dolly's call sign, but her voice was inaudible through the ongoing explosions. The Mantis then rose from its position and forced Lux and Eva to move with it, still using its legs for cover. Babydoll had now landed to pick the two Spartans up and the Mantis and began its departure to the nearby occupied UNSC base, Royal Base.

"What about Umbra?" Lux called out. Eva looks at him as she removes her helmet, her auburn hair tossed a little and her clear blue eyes glassed over.

"What about Leo?" He now shouts out as he gets up and punches the rear hatch of the Pelican.

"What about my _fucking _brother!"


	7. Chapter 7: Erit Ille Luxit

**Erit Ille Luxit**

Eva had avoided Lux all morning; she knew how he felt, how it feels to lose a loved one in battle. Instead she went to the briefing room to see what Militus had to say:

"We're being ordered to eliminate Covenant placed AA turrets close to a Forerunner structure codenamed Epitaph." Militus says as he transmits a picture of the area to Eva. She nods in acceptance and begins to talk to Militus about the event of the day before and why Lux referred to Umbra as his brother. The team leader tells her they're not in any way blood related but the two had such a bond that it was as if they were brothers. As they walk toward their suit kiosks, Eva sees Lux loading his Sniper Rifle, slowly, as he stares blankly ahead of himself and with his helmet off, she sees his brow narrowed, his eyes barely visible through his unnerving gaze. With her suit on, she then follows her leader to the dropping bay of the Infinity's ODSTs. She sees the Troopers look at her and quickly back to their work.

"Why are we here? Do we _really_ need the wanna-bes help?" She asks, with an obvious dissatisfaction tone toward the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers.

"Unless you have us drop in a big aerial vehicle which we so comfortably call Babydoll, yes we need their help." Militus says as he plants his Designated Marksman Rifle in the drop pods weapon holster. Eva just shrugs and walks to the next drop pod, laying her thruster pack into a narrow slot that barely accommodated the object. With her jet pack uncomfortably prodding her spine ever so slightly she manages to strap herself into the confined space, and with her Assault Rifle beside her and a Magnum by her thigh, she was more than ready for the rain to fall, so to speak.

"Good day Spartans, it's nice to see a different set of armour in our lives than normal, I'm Lieutenant Stross and I'll be leading this drop today, so as we say in Omega squad: Let's Drop These Bombs! Oorah!" The ODST leader says from within his own drop pod.

And with that there was a howl of 'Oorah's and the Drop pods plummeted toward Requiem. Eva looked out to the Covenant/UNSC orbital battlefield and was happy to actually be in the drop pod, she was happy because she was seeing Pelicans being destroyed as they tried to enter Requiem, being destroyed as they exited the UNSC Infinity. She then turned her attention to the screen to the lower left and seen the ODST leader again, staring at her, his helmet was very distinct, as it had a small white skull on a visor as blue as the sky, but as he stared at her his head moved ever so slightly to control the rapidly descending pods, which were weaving in and out of debris, remnants from earlier Alien and UNSC ship battles.

The sudden shift of position caused Eva's jet pack to jab her even harder in the back, even through her armour. Finally the squad was in Requiem's atmosphere and the drop pods were deploying the `brakes` as to slow down so they didn't literally explode on impact. The pods landed with a _thump_ and each hatch blasted open as the ODSTs and Spartans proceeded to their destination which was approximately 1 klick from their current location.

"Okay people, when we arrive I want Omega One and Omega Three to head east and west respectively, Omega Two will head with me into the centre of the complex, Spartans if each of you could go with One and Three it would be greatly appreciated." the Lieutenant ordered out to his squad. As they closed in on the complex (obviously encountering _some_ resistance on the way) the teams split up and went their separate ways. Eva headed with Omega One to the east side of the complex, to a high ridge overlooking the rest of the structure. Militus went with Omega Three to the west side of the complex, on a lower ridge than that of Omega One. As for Lieutenant Stross, he went straight into the middle, where there was little to no resistance, all there was were a couple of Grunts and a dinosaur looking thing. To which Eva turned to an ODST and immediately asked what the _hell _they were: Jackals.

The AA cannons were firing every so often as an automatic response for long term activation, the noise bellowing through the ridge itself, causing an occasional rock or boulder to fall out of place and into the ocean below the whole encampment. As the cannons fired, Eva and the ODSTs gradually lowered themselves onto other ridges, the ODSTs keeping a sharp eye on their surroundings while Eva kept her eye on the main structure. It was a multi layered Forerunner building, with Elites and Jackals patrolling it with a keen eye. Eva noticed many elaborate looking Elites, which wore more ornate armour that had aqua blue and gold plating. These more religious looking Elites were making their way into a passage way that led further below the building, which was out of view to Eva and her ODSTs.

"Militus, do you see the fancy looking split lips?" She whispered to her leader. It took a while for him to answer, because from her position, she could see Elites and the things known as Hunters patrolling Militus' area.

"Yeah, I see 'em, nothing beats the guys around here though, they have a little science room on the upper part of the structure. And from what I can see, there's Forerunner weapons in it...and they aint small ones either!"

The ODST leader had now made his way into the building and had now caused a bit of a panic. His yells were heard on comms and the Spartans soon jumped into action and headed toward his location. Eva jumped from her high perch, her jet pack aiding her landing, while her squad slowly followed. Who knew ODSTs were good with jet packs?

As Eva was edging her way to the Lieutenant, Militus was already firing at fleeing Jackals and Grunts from afar with his DMR. His ODST squad had been more than helpful when the group had to fend off the pair of Hunters that had finally spotted them.

As Eva went in the bottom hatch of the main building, her squad had taken another path which led to a small tower, ending up on the higher walkway that she had seen some of the 'Holy' looking Elites strolling to and fro on. As Eva went in, she had to take out a few grunts and one really pissed off gold Elite with an Energy Sword. Eventually she made her way onto the incline that she had spotted from her perch and descended it with caution, not once meeting any 'Religious' Elites. As she met the end of the descent, she was greeted with disappointment because all that was down there was a large platform with a round object held in a large decorative case. Lowering her weapon and relaxing a bit she then heard back from her squad and Omega Two and Three. The whole complex was now cleared out, either from Covies fleeing or otherwise!

"Amare. Report." Militus was barely heard through Eva's helmet. She was transfixed on the small round object in the glowing blue case. Her hand went out instinctively to touch it. Her fingers made contact.

"Greetings Reclaimer, I am Lephilia. Artificial Intelligence of Requiem, companion of Librarian."


	8. Chapter 8: Bullfight Wait What?

**Bullfight!...Wait...What?**

"The Librarian? As in the Forerunner?" Eva asked as she looked around, breathless and feeling a tad bit dizzy.

"Yes. She has spoken to one of your superiors, a Catherine Halsey to be precise." The A.I. was speaking clearly. It was funny as the A.I. appeared like a young human child, with her whole body glowing yellow and covered in Forerunner glyphs. She handed Eva the small sphere that she had seen on the platform moments ago. And now holding it, Eva noticed that it was now flashing blue within her hands, with orange lines going around its circumference.

"It is the partner piece of the artifact my Mistress gave your Catherine Halsey. It is called the Pearl; it emits a hum when Forerunner technology is near. The Key holds the map to the technology, but the Pearl pinpoints it!" Lephilia was dancing in swirls and twists as she finished her speech, as if happy with what she had done. "Like a metal detector." Eva thought as she glanced at the object again, turned and was about to leave, when Lephilia stopped her.

"Reclaimer, take haste upon departing here. The Didact's Guardian will not be pleased." Eva nodded at her and closed her eyes. Her breathing was the only thing she heard for a few seconds until a voice began ringing in her rings, but not until Lephilia's last words could be said:

"Fare well, Reclaimer."

Eva shook her head as she realised she was kneeling on the ground; leaning on the spherical object she was given. The case before her ceased to glow and the platform was swaying slightly. She knew it was about to collapse. She threw the Pearl into the air and jumped upward toward it, allowing her jet pack to do most of the work. Catching the sphere, she continued upward toward the even higher up platform that Omega squad was on, along with Zealot Team's leader. The whole group watched as she landed beside them, wondering what had happened. She showed them the Pearl and had told them to get moving, that the Prometheans were on the way. As they turned to leave, a Promethean crawler strolled in front of them, stared at the group and let out an ear piercing, shrieking howl. Eva noticed the Pearl began to glow and the structure behind them began to react in some way to the small automaton's squeak. The squad turned and seen the console behind them light up and a symbol was shown as the wall beyond the walkway started to disassemble and open into some sort of door. By this point the AA cannons had been shut down, Militus now on his ear piece broadcasting a message to Dolly to come get them. There was no response, just static and interference from the tall cliff like boundaries of Epitaph.

The door opened to show a large pair of orange ovals staring at the group. The group knew it was time to leave. Eva gave the Pearl to Lieutenant Stross and he put it away for safe keeping. As they started to move, reloading on the go, the large doors had finished opening and the large ovals were now clearly visible. Those ovals belonged to a face, a face that was now contorted into a scowl. The thing roared and began to move from its place and toward the small group of humans. As it roared, more and more boulders fell from the cliffs around Epitaph. The squad, which had now made their way onto the area in front of the building, ceased to move and turned toward the roaring thing. It leapt into the air and landed with an unholy _thump_ as it hit the ground hard with massive force.

"What the fuck is _that_ thing!" Militus yelled as he pointed his DMR at the massive Forerunner machine. Eva began to take notes: It was large, maybe 12 feet high and 15 feet long, on all fours. Its head was like a massive shield, transparent blue, hardlight blue in fact! Its stance and body were like that of a Crawler, but a lot bigger. It was like the King of the Crawlers!

"The Didact's Guardian." Eva breathed out as the machine scanned the group. It roared again and began to charge at them, its shielded head, along with it's body, beginning to glow orange. The team split up as the machine plowed into two ODSTs, turning them to orange sparks. Eva began to shoot its body, her bullets bouncing off of it and into the grass. Militus was barely getting his DMR shots into its oval eyes, his bullets also bouncing off of them. The rest of the soldiers were throwing plasma grenades that they had scavenged from the previous battle. They stuck to the Guardian but still had no effect on its thick metallic body. Eva had now switched to her thruster pack, tossing her jet pack to one side. She turned her comms on and allowed the large screech be heard by the machine. It turned to look at her and roared as if in pain, it stumbled backwards and onto its hind legs, attempting to block out the noise. As it did this, its underbelly was exposed and an orange orb was within its chest.

"Shoot the orb, shoot its heart!" Eva yelled as she boosted closer to the yielding creature, allowing her to get a better shot at its chest. The whole group began to shoot at it, the orb turned from orange, to red, to purple, to blue and as it changed colour, it got smaller. They almost had it when the thing's underbelly's plating closed over, and it landed onto its front legs again and charged once more at the scattered group. Eva being the closest had to boost between its massive legs, accidentally slamming into one of its legs and smashing her visor in the process, causing her to reel around and collapse onto the artificial grass. Holding her whole left side of her body, the ODST group and Militus just watched in horror as the Guardian turned on the spot and was looking straight at Eva. Just as it was about to charge once more, she spotted something from the corner of her eye. A white figure ran toward her and toward the Promethean tech. The Guardian locked onto the moving white target and charged, Eva rolled out of the way and watched in horror, awaiting the outcome.

As the Promethean made contact, the white thing then vanished. The Guardian looked around in anger when an almighty high pitched screech rang out. Everyone looked toward the cliffside as the beast began to recoil due to the ear piercing noise to see where the noise was eminating from.

"Everyone get to the main building, I've got this bitch!" Lux said as his comms produced the continuous stream of screeching. He jumped down to see Eva still on the ground and completely motionless. Militus was beside her with his DMR at the ready. Thinking ahead, Lux tossed Militus a purple device similar to Umbra's camo unit. Militus latched it on and took hold of Eva. He disappeared along with the unconscious Spartan.

"Come on baby, bring it on." Mocked Lux as he threw a plasma grenade at the recoiling beast's chest. It opened up revealing the orange sphere once more. He put down his Sniper Rifle, armed another plasma grenade and waited. The screeching ceased and as the Guardian was recovering from the noise, it's chest plates began to shut, Lux then threw the plasma grenade and it latched between the two plates. He smiled to himself as he reached for his knife and threw it toward the active grenade, it impaled it and into the orange orb. The chest plates closed over and the Ancient Machine charged for Lux. He ran toward it, unarmed and began to yell in defiance. As the two made contact, there was a sudden burst of bright light and the loudest silence engulfed the canyon.

The blast began to clear and Militus was now holding the still unconscious Eva. The ODSTs watched from the building's platforms as the field became clear. Lux stood, his armour covered in small orange sparks that slowly evaporated, holding his knife in one hand and a small faintly glowing blue orb in the other. Then the Lieutenant made his way down with the Pearl, as it hummed ever so slightly while he approached the blue orb. Lux looked at both the objects and shook his head, swiftly crushing the blue orb into shards of glass. The Pearls song had ceased.


	9. Chapter 9: Landing Gear

**Landing Gear**

Awakening with what can only be called a mind fuck of a hangover; Eva slowly rose from her bed in a small room that was supposed to be a bed room, well a military bed room. Her head was splitting as she shuffled toward the bathroom. She heard her rooms automatic door slide open and heard someone sit down.

"Hey Amare, how's your head? And arm? And leg?" Lux's voice got lower with each body part. He sighed so loud, Eva heard it through the thick metal door. She didn't answer; she just finished up and came out showing Lux just how she felt. Standing in the doorway, covered in bandages, the black bruises were visible from her neck all the way down the left side of her body and down to her ankle. Lux eyed the bruises, as he shook his head with horror. Eva smiled, but the grin held more of a 'Yeah I know' look than an 'I wanna do that again' look. She then signaled for him to leave so she could get suited up to the best of her ability.

"Could you stay by the door? Just in case?" She said before he left. He nodded and turned just as she slipped the small body suit onto her legs. Lux waited as he heard bumps and 'ouches' from behind the manually locked door. He couldn't help but notice the awkward glances toward the door as workers and Spartans walked by. He just smiled and banged on the door for Eva to hurry up. Finally she was finished, stumbling out as she unintentionally hit the opening sliding door. She winced and gritted her teeth. The two made their way to the briefing room to hear the news. Upon her arrival, Militus signaled for her to approach him. He then handed her a helmet, a helmet that she rarely seen: A Stalker helmet.

"You deserved this after what you did on Epitaph." Militus said, with his arm around Eva's shoulder as she took the helmet and ran her fingers over the purple and blue visor, the blue 'X' on the helmet blending with the blue in the visor. She looked at her leader and smiled as if she were a child witnessing their first Christmas. Placing the helmet by her suit kiosk, she turned to see the ODST Lieutenant and four other ODSTs standing with Lux at the holographic battlefield of the briefing room's main display. Militus waiting for her to attend. She stands next to Lux and leans against him for support. The group waits as Militus inputs the information into the display and allows it to play.

"_That _lady and gentlemen, is our next objective..." The hologram zooms in on a small creature the same size as a Jackal. "...Her name is Lika Utak, she is a Sangheili child brought here by Jul 'Mdama for the soul purpose of contacting the Librarian, now when that failed, and it did, he ordered for her to be killed." Militus said as the hologram zoomed out, showing a large structure which was codenamed Cauldron. Militus told the teams, now including the ODSTs, that the child was going to be dropped into the lava of Cauldron base. They were going to make sure that didn't happen. Then the ODST leader approached the display, placing the Pearl on it, and said it was going to be used a distraction. Immediately Eva stepped forward and protested:

"I risked my life to make sure that thing was ours!" She yelled, with anger in her voice and a limp in her step. The ODST leader stopped her before she could finish, saying that, while she was unconscious, Dr. Glassman had made a replica of the device, not an exact one but one that was to be used for the purpose of deception. They would walk in, threaten to destroy the device and ask for the child in exchange for the 'Pearl'. Eva was still very wary of the ODSTs, especially when the only person that saved her life was her own team leader, so she was going to keep an eye on that wanna-be for the duration of his 'stay'.

As the ODSTs made their way to the 'dropping' bay of the Infinity, Fireteam Zealot headed toward the loading bay, toward Babydoll. Upon their arrival, Dolly was finally seen by Eva, a real tough cookie she thought; with her long, jet black hair and enough metal in her face to send a metal detector into overload, this bitch seemed like a perfect match for Umbra. Dark and deadly.

"Well hey there girly, first time we meetin' face to face, huh?" Dolly says with a grin and a wink. Eva just smiles from within her helmet and extends her hand for a hand shake. Dolly widens the grin and shakes the Spartans hand with a firm grip. Eva then turns toward Babydoll and boards her while placing a thruster to her back. Lux was already on the Pelican checking his Sniper and DMR. Militus and the pilot talk for a long period of time until the rough and tough chick walks off, signaling for Militus to get onboard. Eva and Lux nod in unison at their leader and within minutes Dolly returns and begins the metal bird up. While waiting Militus hands Eva and Lux a small circuit chip and tells them to insert into the back of their helmets. He tells the two Spartans since they don't speak or understand Sangheili; the device was made to translate the species language so they could be understood, considering they were going to be baby-sitting a 'foreign' kid, more or less.

As they once more descended to Requiem, the Pelican had now started to shift ever so slightly, swaying back and forth causing all onboard to clutch to their seats. Dolly announces that there is a bit of a defense being put up going into Requiem, which was put up lately. Eva thinks of the ODST dropping and the Pelicans destroyed on the way out of the Infinity. Suddenly the Pelican goes into a violent barrel roll, leaving Eva and her team members tumbling around in the back of the Pelican.

"You three better bail, I gotta get Babydoll back to Infinity." Dolly yells through their comms. She opens the back hatch of the metal bird and turns toward Infinity, with Zealot looking toward Requiem. Eva knows what she must do, as she completes another seven hundred and twenty rotation, she takes hold of both her team mates and boosts out the back of the Pelican, into the vacuum of space, so it's said. They plummet like rockets toward the alien planet, dodging debris and floating bodies. Eva knows what she's doing; she knows how to fly, while Militus and Lux on the other hand are right on her heels, following her every move.

"So girly, how the hell are we gunna land...in lava may I add!"

The three soldiers enter the planet's atmosphere and a Phantom is right on their tail!


	10. Chapter 10: The Baby Sitters

**The Baby Sitters**

As the three Spartans begin falling too quick for their own liking Eva informs the other two to spread their arms and legs to slow themselves down. The Phantom had now begun to get ever closer to them, homing in on them as they fell. Suddenly the Spartans helmets' flashed on as an incoming transmission played, it was the ODST Lieutenant:

"Hey Spartans, we see you down there, you guys should know you've got a Phantom on you." He says as Eva tries to turn around to see the enemy aircraft. Successfully doing so she straightens out and boosts upward, whizzing past the Phantom and above it where she flattens out again to view the purple aerial vehicle better. Seeing that it doesn't have side turrets, Eva begins to thrust toward the vehicle to board it. Making contact with it, she grips onto its roof and begins to crawl toward the side openings. Her team mates still falling helplessly, Militus calls through to her:

"Hey, Amare you wanna hurry up and help us out, kill the split lip and catch us god dammit!" She makes it inside and searches for the pilot of the Phantom, with nothing around, she approached the purple control board only to be stopped short by bumping into something. With her Assault Rifle raised she shoots a few rounds off, a yellow glow is emitted from an invisible shape. It starts to show itself, the things body sparks yellow and begins to move toward Eva, it reaches for her as she begins to rise. Standing her ground, the female Spartan presses her finger softly against the trigger of her gun. The thing is fully visible now, its dark eyes visible as it stares at her. She gasps as she lowers her weapon in disbelief.

"Hi Eva, long time no see." Umbra says as he helps his old team mate up. His Rogue helmet is partly cracked, and his dark grey eyes are visible. She goes to speak but realises her team mates are still falling. She runs to the control panel and makes the Phantom dive toward her team. Umbra stands at the side opening closest to the falling super soldiers, ready to catch them. They fly past them as Umbra leans out to see them, holding his arm out as far as he can, and gripping the inner wall of the Phantom with his other hand, Eva yells to Lux first.

"Catch his hand." She says trying to keep the diving purple aircraft straight. Umbra catches his hand and lightly but roughly throws Lux toward the other closed side of the Phantom. Umbra staring at his brother in arms for a millisecond before turning to catch his team leader. Unaware that the green Spartan had passed him, Eva was now speeding toward Militus as he was getting closer to the ground. Eva turns to Lux and yells at him to take the controls; he quickly does so as she jumps from the Phantom. Swiftly catching up to Militus, she grabs his hand and boosts backward to rapidly slow herself down, Umbra had now caught her other hand as the Phantom had gained on them. Finally with all of Fireteam Zealot onboard, Lux slows the Phantom down and puts it into auto pilot.

"Ya know..." Eva said as she sat on the floor, breathless. "That took _way _too long for my liking." She then looked toward Umbra, who was taking in all the glances both Militus and Lux were giving. His eyes closed as he pressed his head against the inner wall of the Phantom. Lux was about to speak to him when the ODSTs got in touch. They had landed just outside of Cauldron Base and were waiting for the Spartans to arrive. Militus informed them that they had a Phantom and were planning on using it for the assault. Upon their arrival, they noticed one other Phantom that was hovering above the main ramp to Cauldrons lava pit. There were Elites standing at the top as well as four Energy Sword wielding ones at the base of the Phantom, the child was standing with another Elite, and it seemed they were talking. The group didn't know Zealot was aboard the Phantom, so this was an advantage. Lux hovered the vehicle at the overlook that the child would be dropped from. They waited as the ODSTs got into position.

From the Phantom, Lux spotted the small group of Troopers as they made their way up to the child and the conversing Elite. As one ODST held the child still and quiet, another silently killed the adult Sangheili. Unfortunately ODSTs aren't as stealthy as Spartans and the Troopers were quickly spotted and heard. As the Elites were about to attack, Lux fired a warning shot from the Phantom as Militus aimed at the nearest split lipped freak. Meanwhile Eva and Umbra were tip-toeing toward the group so they could talk with them. As Eva stepped into view, the Elites were preparing to attack, by then Umbra had equip himself with a Concussion Rifle and had it aimed at the central Elite, which looked more important than the lower-ranked ones around him; Zealot assumed it was 'Mdama. The ODST Lieutenant then throws the imitation Pearl toward Eva, and catching it, she begins to talk to the very attentive Sangheili, who are more interested in the strange sphere than the child they were sent to kill:

"Now we don't want to kill anybody but my buddies over there will if any of you just _try_ and make a move!" She pauses and waves the Pearl in the air: "See, what I have here is Forerunner tech, so ya know that if you fuck with us, this little thing will be gone into that lava bath along with the kid...So let's make a deal." The middle, more important Elite looked at Umbra before he dared to speak at what they called 'breeders'. Umbra gave him a stern look, though his eyes said it all:

"You shy about talking to a lady?" The Elite grunted and eventually spoke to Eva, saying that they could take the child, seeing as its better they kill her than having their own kind do it. Eva rolled the Pearl to the nearest Elite as the ODSTs, Umbra and the Sangheili child got into the friendly Phantom. She then backed away from the group as they began to get more hostile. Militus grabbed her hand as Lux kept his Sniper pinned to the central Elite as he examined the artifact. The Phantom rose higher as the humans and captive fled. Militus goes to 'debrief' Umbra who is piloting the Phantom as Eva speaks with the ODST Lieutenant:

"So was that just a random ball made to _look_ like the Pearl?" Eva enquires as she looks toward the frightened alien child. Briefly afterward a large rumble is heard from their previous location and the alien aircraft sways a bit. The ODST group, along with their Lieutenant, laugh like children.

"I guess not." Eva chuckles as the Phantom rises toward Infinity and away from the incinerated Cauldron Base.


	11. Chapter 11: Amores Cor

**Amores Cor**

As the friendly Phantom managed to maneuver toward the Infinity, easing its way past the Covies and UNSC ships that were battling non-stop since Zealot's arrival to Requiem, Lux finally made his way to the control panel to discuss what needed to be discussed with Umbra. Upon seeing the white Spartan, Umbra just stared at him waiting for him to speak first. The silence seemed like it would never pass until the Phantom touched down on the Infinity's landing bay. Lux just shuck his head and patted his contrasting team mate on the shoulder. What a conversation _that_ was.

Eva was now standing with the two, but as Lux walked away, the girl Spartan hugged Umbra unexpectedly and as she retreated from the embrace, Umbra's eyes were as wide as deer caught in headlights. She laughed and went to remove his helmet for him, his own hands quickly catching hers and forcing them to lower. His eyes went narrow:

"Were it so easy!" He said with a slight laugh as he released her hands. Eva looked toward the moon-walking Lux, as she just pointed and laughed at Umbra acting a douche, for the first time...Ever! Lux just shrugged and waved her over as Umbra followed.

"So, where's Militus going? I saw him walking off with Commander Palmer and the kid. D'ya think there's gunna be trouble with her?" Eva said as she walked with but between the two taller Spartans.

"Palmer? Nah there won't be trouble, she'll hear from Leo if there is!" The blonde super soldier said, now helmetless and looking toward his darker brother in arms.

"I have a strong dislike for cunts that think they're better than everyone else: Miss Sarah Palmer classifies as that type of cunt." Umbra concludes as the three entered their team's debriefing and suiting up area.

The three went into the separate kiosks and let the machines do their work. Eva stared at Umbra having his armour removed...along with his helmet. Lux was first out and stood before Eva before she could see Umbra as he was finishing up. She smiled at Lux slyly and pushed him out of the way just to be greeted by Umbra standing right in front of her, her eyes level with his neck. Her gaze moved upward as her head stayed motionless. His eyes met hers, the grey making them appear as if black and demonic. The mysterious Spartan puts his hands on her shoulders and turns her around as her eyes leave his gaze. Lux laughs as Eva is unaware that her face is completely emotionless and her mouth is partially opened. The trio walked back into the halls and toward their designated military bedrooms, Umbra's hands never leaving Eva's shoulders, basically pushing her to her room. He shoves her into her room and she goes to turn when he closes the sliding door quickly and says a brief 'Good Night' before she hears the two walk away and chat to one another. Eva goes and sits on her bed. Did she _just_ see his eyes? Did she really want to know what he looked like? Why can't she remember his hair, or his mouth or even his damn chin? No, just his eyes. She lies down, closes her eyes and dies for a few hours.

Eva wakes to the sound of alarm bells ringing with the intercom spurting 'Invasion Alert' or something of the kind, she jumps up and arms herself with a close by Magnum and knife and then starts for the door out of her room. Head first out the door she sees Promethean Crawlers and Grunts running after civilians on the ship. Springing into action she jumps onto a sprinting Crawler and snaps its neck, causing it to explode into pieces and leaving the parts scattering the hallway. Grunts spot her and leap in fear as she looks toward them, a flick of auburn hair covering her eyes, which now have a predatory look to them. She runs down the hall to see Lux in his own skin tight body suit ramming a knife through a Grunts eye, she watches it twitch and drop to the floor in a heap. He turns and calls her over:

"Damn, did you wake up to this shit too?" He said flicking the small alien's blood off his blade. Eva nods to his question and the two swiftly make their way to their suit kiosks. Upon arrival Umbra is fully suited, with a newly repaired Rogue helmet; he's wielding his Energy Sword and popping his active camo unit to his lower back. He looks toward his two team mates and tells them to armour up saying he'll cover them as they do so. As they are preparing, Umbra is jumped by a larger than normal Promethean Knight, its back is spiked and glowing a fierce orange. It shoots at the black Spartan, and failing to hit its target, charges to attack. Umbra ducks and slashes as the thing makes contact with the bright blue blade, orange sparks scattering behind Umbra who picks up the things dropped grenades. Throwing one at the doorway, it explodes into a large sphere that pulsates and eventually catches a wandering Jackal off guard, its screeches and burns into sparks as the grenade finally deactivates. Eva and Lux just watch as they are defenceless to help. Luckily nothing else assaults the lone Spartan as Eva and Lux drop from their suit kiosks, fully armoured but still holding onto their knives.

"Just so you know, bro, not everybody is great with a blade the way you are!" Lux sniggers toward Umbra. Eva just nudges the white nuisance and pushes him toward the weapon holsters along the walls of the room. Lux arms himself with his Sniper Rifle, snapping it to his back as he picks up a DMR. Eva tries a new approach and takes the Covenant Carbine dropped by the Jackal as well as a Battle Rifle from the wall. Lux looks toward Eva and waves her over to him. While he tells Umbra to stand at the doorway, in camo of course. As the team listen, Lux sends out a hologram into the hallway to attract would be attackers... An Elite foolishly slashes at the hologram, Umbra jumps out, cloaked and it looks as if he tapped the 8 foot alien because it turns in shock and stares at Lux and Eva, then an invisible blade penetrates its head. And it dies. Easy.

"We need to find Militus." Eva says as she is allowed to exit the room before Lux. The two ying-and-yang brothers nod in unison and the three make their way to the large service lift of Infinity.

_"Floor 237: Holding Cells, War Games and Shooting Range."_


	12. Chapter 12: Pull The Pin, Light The Fuse

**Pull The Pin, Light The Fuse**

The lift door opens, with an unpleasant greeting of Promethean Crawlers, Grunts and Jackals firing into the lift. With only one figure which is another hologram showing, the firing comes to a halt and Lux jumps down from the ceiling of the lift and fires a more than perfect Sniper shot at a Jackal's shield, the bullet ricochets off it and hits three in line Crawlers. Umbra pops out of active camo, holding Eva close to him so to cloak her as well, and begins to attack the Jackals closest to him; Eva joins him and uses the Carbine to headshot the Grunts that are fleeing in terror. She chuckles to herself as they flee and fall.

The trio fights their way down the crowded and hectic halls of the Infinity when suddenly Militus pops onto each of their comms. He's down in the loading bay, where they basically just came from. The team turns to see four Hunters staring at them, each with their plasma cannons held up and ready to fire. Once more Lux leaps up into the pipe work of the ceiling and lays down a hologram; Eva screams as Umbra steps in front of her and activates his brief lasting hard light shield unit on his wrist. The Hunters took aim at Lux's hologram first and two of them shot at it, while the other two moved toward Umbra and Eva.

Blinded by the blasts that were just fired, Umbra was unaware of the Hunter that swung for him. Its large shielded arm made contact with his small wrist shield, forcing him backward as well as Eva who was behind him. He grabbed at his wrist in shock and armed his sword as the large worm colony made another attempt to hit him. He jumped over its arm and boarded its back, as Eva boost under it to its companion and began to distract it with frenzied shots from the Carbine.

Meanwhile the other two Hunters were preparing to take another shot at the quarrelling bunch, but fortunately Lux had made his way toward them from the pipe work in the ceiling. He lay down another hologram behind them and shot a round of the DMR to make them turn, the two beasts did indeed turn and made a dashing swing for the white target. And as one ran after the hologram, the other was about to turn to Umbra and Eva when Lux jumped down and ran the barrel of his Sniper into the things exposed back. It made a sort of agonized yelp and tried to grab Lux, instead he laughed and fired a point blank shot into the worm colony, and the Hunter collapsed to the floo

While all that was going on, Umbra had managed to cut the primary thing off of the Hunter: it's head, while Eva had planted a 'Pulse' grenade into the other Hunters back leaving nothing left of what was a massive purple walking tank. Eva turned to Lux, his white armour now had splashes of orange on it, well they all had orange splashes on their armour, but Lux stood out like a sore thumb. Umbra gave Eva a slight nudge toward the lift as Lux was already walking toward it. They pushed the button to call the lift and almost immediately it opened now showing two blue Spartans in it, along with Dr. Glassman. One of the Spartans had the Warrior helmet while the other had the Recruit helmet.

"Zealot Team, right?" The Warrior Spartan said as he waited for somebody to say something. Lux looked back at him and replied with a simple 'Yeah'. The elevator stopped on floor 230, Zealot stepped out as the doors shut immediately behind them. Umbra took lead down the corridor with Eva following close behind and Lux a few feet behind her, in case he needed to let a few rounds off from his Sniper. Once again Zealots comms popped on but this time it showed Dolly's call sign:

"Captain Dolly Babette broadcasting on all UNSC channels; calling all available fireteams, marines and ODSTs to the loading bay. We've got a lot of boarding craft inbound; need immediate assistance."

Knowing they were close to the loading bay, Zealot began to pick up the pace and sprint toward their pilot's location. Upon entering the loading bay, a few fireteams could be spotted; Fireteam Majestic (blue Spartans), Fireteam Rhino (generic grey Spartans), Fireteam Dawn (maroon Spartans) and Fireteam Mirage (white Spartans). Among the multi-coloured Spartans, ODSTs and marines, Eva managed to spot their pilot alongside their team leader as he was about to board his Mantis. The team was finally together when a conversation was about to start but was immediately cut short when two Seraph bombers kamikaze into the shielding panels separating Infinity's loading bay and space. Now those panels had weakened and were sending people, vehicles and other miscellaneous objects into space.

"You might wanna hang on people!" Militus announced through the Mantis' speakers. The trio beneath the Mantis gripped onto its massive metallic legs as they were sucked toward the vacuum. Dolly had swiftly put her air-tight pilot's helmet on and was securing one of the few strapped down Broadsword fighters. Eva managed to catch a glimpse at the other Fireteams that were still around; Fireteam Majestic were exiting the bay via the Dropping bay entrance, Fireteam Rhino were entering pretty well planted Scorpion tanks, like makeshift mortar cannons for the incoming fight, while Fireteam Mirage had themselves planted to the floor by their own two feet. Eva thought they looked like 21st Century spacemen walking around, which brought a brief smile to her face. And Fireteam Dawn was making their way toward another Mantis used for loading cargo. Lux looked toward Eva and briefly tapped his helmet; he was signaling for her to check her comm unit. It was Fireteam Dawn announcing that they were going to crudely repair the busted panels before any more Seraph bombers could get in.

The trio of Zealot managed to secure themselves to the floor of the loading bay for their leader had pushed them further back using the Mantis as a ram. Umbra was the first to depart, heading toward Dawn to assist in the cutting of metal to repair the panels. Lux made his way to one of the watch towers in the corners of the gigantic room; he knew he would be sniping very soon. Militus was making his way toward Rhino in the Scorpion tanks, as well as other occupied Mantis'; they were the heavy artillery unit, Eva thought.

She was then left standing thinking of what to do when Dolly switched on to the secure channel of Eva's helmet;

"You up for a flight simulation, girlfriend?"

And with that said, Eva boarded the top of the Broadsword and waits for her pilot to go. The fighter rises slowly and turns toward the gaping openings at the end of the loading bay. Dolly accelerates toward the opening as Eva hangs on for her life.


	13. Chapter 13: If All Else Fails

**If All Else Fails**

As the Broadsword was boosting toward the opening into space, Eva caught sight of an incoming Seraph bomber, one that was speeding toward the opening she was about to exit along with her pilot. She struggled to get her comm unit to work as Dolly was unaware of the pending doom. Eva tried banging on the top of the Broadsword to warn Dolly, but was too late as the Seraph got closer to her. As Eva stood up to prepare to die, another Spartan quickly grabbed her before the two flying vehicles collided. Flames flew into the Infinity as parts of both ships sprayed the loading bay. The two Spartans dropped onto the ground, landing below the vacuum that was still being seen to. Eva was breathing heavily as she looked at her saviour:

"Leo?" She said as her vision was coming back.

"Sorry to disappoint ma'am but my name aint Leo." Finally she could see, a maroon coloured Spartan with yellow stripes here and there. His whole armour set was that of War Master topped with a yellow/gold visor. Maroon armour. He must have been part of Fireteam Dawn.

Eventually the two Spartans rose and placed themselves against the large wall below the now broken panels that was currently a very strong suction into space. While Eva was looking around for some way to move, the maroon Spartan was already signaling the nearby cargo-loading Mantis for help. The robot stepped into the stream of wind and immediately latches on its 'feet' activated, anchoring it to the floor. With each step, the latches would come undone on one foot but strengthen on the other to keep the machine on the floor. So, slowly it got over toward Eva and the other Spartan as a voice then bellowed out its speakers:

"Hey Viktor, need a hand?" A shrieking girl's voice said as the Mantis put out a 'hand' toward the maroon Spartan. He waved it away and pointed toward Eva, while he then began climbing up the wall that was behind him and that was in need of repair.

Funny enough while Eva was on her own little adventure, she managed to look toward Lux, who was letting a few rounds off as enemy infantry was entering through the doorway Zealot originally had entered. She then glimpsed toward Militus and the heavy artillery crew who were taking out smaller flying craft before they could enter the Infinity's loading bay.

Then realising she was still stranded, Eva jumped onto the outstretched 'hand' of the Mantis. Its fingers took grip of her, not too tight, but enough strength to keep her in place going through the slipstream. While passing through the stream, she noticed a few Covenant ships leaving Requiem, not even taking notice of Infinity and at the same time noticed that enemy air craft reinforcements were nowhere to be seen.

Once to the other side of the slip stream and away from danger, Umbra finished with the cutting of a sheet of metal and jumped down to talk to Eva. As he jumped, she noticed two things; one was that his Energy Sword was flashing every now and again, meaning it was low on energy and two, as he made contact with the loading bay floor, he limped for a moment before regaining his posture. She decided to walk toward him and ask him what was what:

"Umbra is everything okay?" She said as she gave him and up and down glance, noticing his hand by his side. Eva moved his hand as his head turned away, and to her surprise a portion of his side had been cut through. She immediately popped her comms on to Lux and got him down from his perch. Running toward his brother, Umbra fell to the floor as the cuts effects began to sink in.

As everything was starting to look better, the panels being repaired, the enemy crafts now dissipating and the announcement that Infinity was to be leaving Requiem orbit, Zealot team seemed to be the only ones with a problem. Militus approached in his Mantis as Fireteam Dawn and Rhino were seeing to Umbra.

"Amare. Report." He said sternly, which made Eva very uncomfortable.

"Sir, Dolly and I were about to teach the Covies a thing or two before..." She was stopped.

"I see that, and an unfortunate thing that that happened. I'm talking about Umbra." He said, showing signs of concern. Eva's nerves passed as she took on tougher persona:

"Sir, as a member of Fireteam Dawn was saving me..." Saying saving with a sharp tone. "..There were parts of both ships being thrown about, and unfortunately Umbra was caught by one shard. He will be fine as he is being seen to by Fireteams Dawn and Rhino." Militus looked toward Umbra amongst the colours and spotted Lux beside him as the group made its way to the infirmary. Eva just saluted and walked off in anger. Cursing her leader as she exited the loading bay.


	14. Epilogue

_**Epilogue**_

Two days had passed since UNSC Infinity had witnessed the destruction of Requiem and the disappearance of Doctor Halsey. None of that mattered to Eva though. She was still ticked at her leader for being such an ass to her. She ignored that as she made her way to the infirmary to see how Umbra was doing. Entering the plain white room, she notices there are a few un-armoured Spartans lying in pain. She looks around for Umbra's distinct eyes and of course his name plate above his bed: Leo Umbra.

She worries as she can't find his name and asks a nearby nurse of his where about. The nurse informs Eva that he was released a few hours before her arrival. Stepping up her game she runs to her team's assembly point and sees Lux loading up his Sniper Rifle as well as Militus loading up a DMR and her Assault Rifle. Her eyes scan the room as she sees the large black armoured Spartan emerge from an armour kiosk, his armour even darker than before. He equips a new Energy Sword, activates it and swings it to see its functioning. The three male Spartans approach her with Militus handing her the Assault Rifle and a thruster pack.

"No rest for the wicked."


End file.
